As the most successful manager in the Premier League and its biggest name now that Sir Alex Ferguson has gone, it should be no great surprise to see Jose Mourinho doing his very best to influence the decision-makers in the game, from referees to the Football Association.

As he handed out dossiers at the pre-match press conference, Louis van Gaal looked like what he had once briefly been, a schoolteacher who would not brook backchat from his classroom. The accusation put tongue-in-cheek by Sam Allardyce, that Manchester United were a “long-ball team”, had clearly got to him.